Media

Kuennsberg cancels interview with Boris Johnson after she accidentally sends him the questions

Laura Kuennsberg has been forced to cancel an interview with Boris Johnson after she accidentally sent him her briefing notes.

The BBC presenter was due to interview the former prime minister ahead of the launch of his memoir, Unleashed, that will be published next week.

But in an embarrassing cock up, she accidentally included him in a message to her team, and has therefore decided to knock the interview on the head.

Kuenssberg, who was the BBC’s political editor between 2015 and 2022, said it was “embarrassing and disappointing”, adding the error meant it was “not right for the interview to go ahead”.

In a post on X on Wednesday evening, Kuenssberg wrote: “While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow, by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team.

“That obviously means it’s not right for the interview to go ahead.

“It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked.

“But red faces aside, honesty is the best policy. See you on Sunday.”

A BBC spokesperson was reported as saying the inadvertent move made Thursday’s interview “untenable” and that both the BBC and Johnson’s team had agreed to cancel the interview.

The interview was due to be broadcast on Thursday evening.

A spokesperson for Johnson declined to comment.

Related: Yvette Cooper ‘turning the tide’ on small boats as crossings drop to lowest level in 4 years

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Published by